Slender article jacket



SLENDER ARTICLE JACKET- F'iled Feb. 6, 1967 1 '9 SANFORD Mi l 5552 P %1;,MW-/

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,366,226 SLENDER ARTICLE JACKET Sanford M. Baklor, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Maryland Cup Corporation, Owings Mills, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Feb. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 614,106 6 Claims. (Cl. 206-165) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A jacket for slender articles in the form of a tubular member that has been flattened at either end to form resiliently operable closures.

This invention relates to jackets and it is more particularly concerned with means for retaining slender implements under clean conditions until used.

Devices such as thermometers are frequently used in hospitals. They are transported from a central sterilization point to various places in the hospital where they are to be used, particularly at the bedsides of patients. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tubular jacket into which a thermometer or other slender implement can be readily disposed in clean condition and carried about from place to place while retaining its clean condition until it is to be used and which can then be readily removed from the tubular member.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a tubular member which is normally closed at both ends but which can be resiliently opened by the application of simple pressure of the fingers whereby the thermometer, or other slender article therein, can be readily removed.

A still further object is the provision of a tubular jacket for articles of the type mentioned which affords a degree of protection from breakage of the articles therein when it is accidentally dropped or when groups of the units are in a packaged form.

These and still further objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description considered together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an embodiment of the invention containing a thermometer. 1

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of one end showing the manner of inserting a thermometer in the jacket.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the manner of removing the thermometer from the jacket.

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a respective view of a group of the devices in a container showing the relationship of each to the other.

Referring to the drawing with more particularity the embodiment illustrated comprises a seamless one piece elongated jacket 11 of a transparent resilient plastic ma terial, such as of polypropylene. The ends 12 and 13 of the jacket are permanently flattened under heat and pres- 3,366,226 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 sure to provide closure lips 14, 15 and 16, 17, respectively. In this form, either end is readily opened by the exertion of sidewise pressure against the resilient action of the material. When the sidewise pressure is released the flattened ends return to their normally closed flat shapes.

In this way, a slender article, such as a thermometer 18, can be readily disposed within the jacket and readily removed therefrom. (See FIGS. 3 and 4.) The thermometer or other slender article can be carried about without danger of contamination and removed when it is desired to be used. Due to the air pocket within the jacket and the resilience of the material of which the jacket is made, it has been found that devices placed within the jacket are reasonably protected against impact forces such as occur when it is dropped or jostled about. When packaged in groups in a container 19, as shown in FIG. 6, a single jacket can readily be removed by gripping an exposed fiat end. This also affords a protective barrier for each of the articles in a jacket so that there is minimized the danger of breakage of the slender articles, particularly in the case of thermometers which are notoriously fragile.

I claim:

1. A jacket for an individual slender article comprising a seamless one piece hollow slender cylindrical member of a resilient material open at either end, said member having both sides at its ends pressed together fiat under heat and pressure to provide at each end a pair of openable closure lips extending axially outward, the interior space of the tubular member between said ends comprising a chamber for holding the slender article.

2. A jacket as defined by claim 1 in which the material of the tubular member is polypropylene.

3. A jacket as defined by claim 1 in which the tubular member is of a plastic material.

4. A jacket as defined by claim 3 in which the tubular member is transparent.

5. The combination of a tubular jacket as defined by claim 1 and a slender article within the jacket between the pressed ends.

6. The combination as defined by claim 5 in which the slender article -is a glass thermometer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,092,251 6/1963 Iaggers 20663.2 658,998 10/ 1900 Randall 206-16.5 496,610 5/ 1893 Hurlbut 22024 820,067 5/ 1906 Richardson.

2,319,448 5/1943 Frostad.

744,846 11/1903 Williams.

1,671,385 5/1928 Strayer 8 X 426,400 4/ 1890 Tagliabue 20616.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,083,351 6/1954 France.

879,186 10/1961 Great Britain.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

J. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner. 

